About us

What’s your role at Civilian?

Founder / CEO. I help steer the ship, clear roadblocks, and make sure the team has what they need to do their best work. I’m also usually the backup plan when something goes sideways.

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

It never sits still. New techniques, new technologies, new ideas, new weird problems to solve and we’re making unique pieces of art every single day.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

Despite the title, I don’t spend my days lounging in a swivel chair making dramatic decisions. It’s a lot of research, problem-solving, putting out tiny fires, and a lot of Googling things like “why is this underbase acting weird” and “how to politely say ‘please read the email I already sent’”.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Hang with my family, brew beer, travel, camp, hike, watch birds, garden, try to relax.

Favourite blank garment?

Bella+Canvas 3010 Heavy Cotton T. Heavy but still soft, and it fits like it was designed by someone who actually wears t-shirts.

Dream band to print for?

Twenty-five-year-old me would’ve said The Lawrence Arms without hesitation. I like to think I’ve evolved though, so something that would make us insanely rich would be cool. Taylor Swift, maybe? Does that make us sell outs? I guess it’s still The Lawrence Arms.

What's your role at Civilian?

Operations Manager. I look after the day to day operations of the staff and the shop, making sure everything runs smoothly and nothing falls through the cracks. I also oversee a few key accounts, mainly working with international music artists, which keeps things interesting and never quite routine.

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

Problem solving, hands down. No two days are the same, and there’s always a new challenge to figure out. I also love sharing new products with clients and helping them find the right fit for what they’re trying to create. Building long-term relationships is a big part of it too. It’s fun watching ideas turn into finished products year after year. There always seems to be something new and exciting around the corner.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

We don’t actually make the garments. And we definitely don’t store every style, colour, and size in our warehouse — we’d need millions of square feet if we did. It sounds like a lot of work… Most people are surprised by how much coordination and logistics go on behind the scenes.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Spend time with my family, for sure. I enjoy a beer here and there, and I’m all about backyard patio chilling; kids running in and out of the yard, bouncing on the trampoline, flying down the water slide. Toss in the smell of pizza coming out of the Ooni and a Beyond Sausage sizzling on the BBQ and I’m in my happy place. I very much yearn for summer.

Favourite blank garment?

Lately, the AS Colour 5082 Heavy Faded Tee. It’s got that perfect balance, heavy but still soft, just slim enough without feeling tight, and the length is spot on. And the colour is noice.

Dream band to print for?

This is a tough question. For my wife’s sake… Hanson.

What’s your role at Civilian?

I manage Civilian’s digital department, including DTF and embroidery. I also wear many different hats, which include illustration and design work, managing key client orders and branding requests, handling social media and online content, and recently helping build and expand Civilian’s branding and marketing. You’ll still catch me makin’ shirts from time to time, though.

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

I had the pleasure of co-oping at Civilian in high school, and even from then until now, the heart of Civilian has always been the connections we make with our clients. From small local businesses to big touring bands, we truly care about your orders and about giving you the best experience and product possible. My favourite part of the industry is seeing businesses, bands, and organizations thrive with their new merch from Civilian.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

People might be surprised by how many intricate steps go into an order—things you wouldn’t even think about as an outsider. From concepts and mock-ups to ink and thread colour, positioning, sizing, printing, curing, packing, and shipping, there’s a science and process behind every single step. We’re constantly learning, expanding, and growing with each order to make the experience even better.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I’m a full-time artist and run my own small business, Hushpuppy Designs, which takes up most of my spare time. I also love being a part of the DTK community and attending events while supporting other small businesses. At home, I have a sweet deaf pup who demands my attention and takes top priority in my busy life.

Favourite blank garment?

A cozy Comfort Colours 1566 garment-dyed crewneck. Bury me in one when I die.

Dream band to print for?

I feel spoiled saying we’ve already printed for my dream band—twice—when we got to work with Turnstile. That said, I’m always holding out hope that Bruce Springsteen might need some merch someday. We’ve got you covered, Bruce!

What’s your role at Civilian?

SR Graphic Designer

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry:

I always get a kick out of it when artwork crosses my desk from bands I’ve been a fan of for years—it’s a cool peek behind the curtain. I also love printing for local bands; it makes me feel more connected to the local scene in a small way.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

Resampling isn’t magic—if you blow up an image, the quality degrades.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Getting tinnitus at concerts, perpetuating an eye-strain headache while playing video games, and being unmistakably Canadian while traveling abroad. Seriously—no one ever gets it wrong when I ask them to guess.

Favourite blank garment?

Comfort Colours 1717, gotta love them muted garment dyed colours.

Dream band to print for?

Archspire. Super heavy ✓, In their prime ✓, In tune with their fans ✓, The best music videos ✓, They're Canadian ✓

What’s your role at Civilian?

Customer Relations Coordinator

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

The opportunities to make cool products for cool people.

-What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

Every order is super custom and requires a lot of human hands to complete.

-What do you like to do outside of work?

Hanging out with my family, camping, running, listening to music, and playing video games.

Favourite blank garment?

Comfort Colors 1717

Dream band to print for?

The Selecter, Split System, The Epoxies

What’s your role at Civilian?

Primarily operating the big dawg press in the screen printing department, modelling the finest selection of test print shirts and diversifying the speaker in the shop.

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

Randomly spotting shirts you made out in public… especially at a concert or out of town!

-What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

The ink doesn’t taste as good as it looks, well… the dark red ones are actually pretty decent.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Thrifting, collecting art and vinyl, living that pretentious indie movie and music nerd life, die-hard Leafs fan (sigh), lifelong multi-(un)discipline artist with too many interests: current fixations are oil pastels, sewing, and writing. Recovering foodie/chopped dude on a major health, spiritual and self growth kick who traded in doom scrolling for walking (single for the first time in a decade… is this a pitch? I feel like it turned into one, I’m not on the apps, apply within).

Favourite blank garment?

Redwood Classic Sculpin Garment Dyed Creckneck. Made in Canada. Vintage look and feel… perfect weight, reverse weave French Terry loop, incredible ribbing on the cuffs and waistband, quality stitching… An essential done right at a fair price! Rare sighting in the shop, but yeah, and absolute treat to print and wear, it’s reallllllll nice. (Oops, turned this one into another pitch, didn’t I).

Dream band to print for?

I think I designed a pretty rad CREED shirt that needs to be shared with the world. Scott Stapp if you’re reading this, let’s make it happen brother! (Three pitches is the charm, right?)

What’s your role at Civilian?

My main role here is screen printing, although you can usually find me running around and juggling all sorts of stuff involved in production. I also do sales and client outreach on the side.

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

I love being given the space and tools to network with artist management, merch companies and independent bands. It brings me a lot of fulfilment knowing that I can help facilitate a job big or small to help a band get merch printed for their shows. I believe in the quality of work that our shop puts out and it only encourages me to keep expanding our roster of artists we work with.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

I think the number of different artists that we work with throughout the year. I feel like I hear “you guys printed for that band!?”so often, and that’s pretty darn cool. Also… I genuinely love my job. I didn’t think I would ever find an industry that I would feel so excited about and interested in. I find screen printing to be quite fascinating. There is always so much to learn, and it honestly feels quite rad to set up and print a kick ass design.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I watch a lot of “I Think You Should Leave”! Like, it’s probably becoming an issue. Aside from that, I’m a big home body. I spend most of my time watching movies, playing video games, listening to music and finding new artists/bands along with my partner and our little hilarious dog.

Favourite blank garment?

Pepper Comfort Color long sleeve.

Dream band to print for?

PETEY USA / Jeff Rosenstock or Blink 182……I can’t pick just one

What’s your role at Civilian?

Shipping & Receiving / Embroidery

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

For sure printing for cool bands and getting to be creative with my owns band merch after learning new things from working in the industry.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

Some embroidery jobs can take multiple hours due to the 10's or even 100's of thousands of stitches per design, even if it's a small deign. There's a lot that goes into embroidery beyond stitches.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I make music and play in my band, Thorns. Music aside, I love Anime, movies, and cooking.

Favourite blank garment?

Comfort Colors 1717, favorite hat would YP Classics 6789M for clean embroidery every time.

Dream band to print for?

Saosin would be pretty rad to print for, or Lydia.

What’s your role at Civilian?

Screen Printer, ripping the manual and Auto presses all day.

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

Printing great designs with friends and like minded people.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

The learning never ends. Problem solving skills are a must in our field of work.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Playing in my band, Dark Bird, and making all kinds of art.

Favourite blank garment?

Comfort Colors

Dream band to print for?

The Cure

What's your role at Civilian:

These days it's a bit of everything. I mostly work on and around the press. Setting up, tearing down, prepping inks and garments, exposing screens, you name it. I'll tackle tasks here and there so that the printers don't get bogged down.

What's your favourite part of working in our industry:

I'd say getting to work with various bands. We've printed merch for countless bands in my time here at Civilian - big and small, local and touring. There's nothing quite like working on sick band tees or the kind words from bands after they receive their merch.

What's one thing people would be surprised to learn about your job:

Maybe how often the pace of work changes. Some days you'll be going non stop with a million different things to do and places to be for a big order, and then other days you're just chipping away through smaller orders with more time on your hand.

What do you like to do outside of work:

Axe throwing and music are the two main things I do in my spare time.

I've been throwing axes competitively for about five years now. Mainly out of Riot Axe in Guelph but I've gone to tournaments all around Southern Ontario and even down to Pittsburgh in the states.

Outside of axes you can find me at local Punk, Hardcore, and rock shows here in KW. There's a thriving underground music scene here that I'm proud to be part of.

Favourite blank garment:

G5000 Gildan Heavy Cotton t-shirt particularly in black. Perfect canvas for band tees.

Dream band to print for:

D.O.A. would be a sick one. Or Title Fight if they ever tour again. We live in hope.

What’s your role at Civilian?

Graphic Designer

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

The final stage, people wearing our designs.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

That it actually takes time to do it, its not just drawings xD

What do you like to do outside of work?

Going to the movie theater and spend time with my friends

Favourite blank garment?

A basic white tank, goes with EVERYTHING.

Dream band to print for?

Beyonce, Adele or a THE Celine Dion

What’s your role at Civilian?

Screen Printing Assistant & Social Media Content Creator & In House Photographer.

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

I honestly love being able to work on big band/musical artist orders, especially if it’s for a band that I like and listen to daily. I also love seeing all the different styles of art & designs we get to work with.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

That there is a lot more moving parts to screen printing than people think, where having a strong team is crucial to the production speed and quality of our final products. From cleaning screens to exposing, taping, printing, folding, and fulfilling orders. It’s a great job to keep you busy.

What do you like to do outside of work:

Most of my free time goes into my band Living Room for Small, working and writing music with my best friends and playing some truly rad shows. Other than that I love to travel, play video games and do a little bit of photography on the side.

Favourite blank garment?

Just Like Hero HERO-300 Super Heavyweight Tee

Dream band to print for?

The 1975, The Band CAMINO and Dayseeker.

What’s your role at Civilian?

I work in the DTF department, pressing shirts and helping with the digital side of Civilian.

What’s your favourite part of working in our industry?

I really enjoy the exposure I get to a wide variety of art and designs working in my department.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about your job?

Scissors will be your best friend.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I will either be watching a movie, reading a book or playing a Saxophone.

Favourite blank garment?

classic heavy cotton Gildan

Dream band to print for?

Stereolab or PJ Harvey.